Ministry Health Care said Tuesday it would build a $100 million hospital and medical complex near Wausau.
The 104-bed facility is expected to open in 2004. It will be built on 57 acres near Highway 29.
Officials say the new hospital is designed to meet the needs of central Wisconsin's aging population.
Ministry President Nicholas Desien says studies show the population of 45- to 64-year-old residents will increase 26 percent by 2010.
The Wausau area now has one hospital with 320 beds.
Ministry Health is a Catholic health care organization headquartered in Milwaukee. It now operates 13 hospitals, four nursing homes and other health care facilities in Wisconsin.
